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We still don’t know how people are really using AI
ResearchTuesday, August 18, 2026 at 10:30 AM

We still don’t know how people are really using AI

Source: MIT Technology Review
Curated Summary

A new research initiative called the AI Observatory has revealed that major AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI significantly underreport non-work-related usage in their public data.

By analyzing seven independent datasets, researchers found that nearly half of AI conversations are filtered out of corporate reports because they do not fit productivity metrics.

The excluded data shows much higher rates of sensitive topics, including health, relationships, harassment, and sexual content, compared to the sanitized figures released by vendors.

This discrepancy highlights a critical blind spot for policymakers and stakeholders who rely on these limited datasets to assess AI risks and benefits.

The study demonstrates that AI usage patterns differ significantly across models and have evolved over time, with conversations becoming more elaborate.

Independent verification is essential to understand the true scope of generative AI adoption and its societal implications.

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via MIT Technology Review

#ai-observatory#anthropic#openai#data-transparency#user-behavior

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